Faced with the decision with signing DeAngelo Hall, or some other free agent who is actually good, I say: that I wish Hall wasn't a local boy.

But yeah, this actually shows why it's even more insane to worry about the contracts of Rogers and Campbell right now, when we have to decide right here and right now which direction the team is going to go in the future, and player movement figures to be restricted in the future.

__________________ according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

You're absolutely right, the $123 million cap limit is a preliminary projection at this point. The NFL will publish the actual cap limit in the coming weeks. The economic downturn could indeed result in a lower number than previously expected.

It's not expected to be radically different from the already projected $123 million, could actually be a bit higher at around $124 million. That's the last I've heard at least.

__________________You're So Vain...You Probably Think This Sig Is About You

I think the entire offseason plan can be summed up by one boolean dualism: EITHER the veterans OR younger free agents.

You have your Shawn Springs, but you also have Dunta Robinson out there.
You have your Jason Taylor, but you also have Julius Peppers out there.
You have your Phillip Daniels, but you also have Terrell Suggs out there.
You have your Marcus Washington, but you also have Karlos Dansby out there.
You have your Casey Rabach, but you also have Jason Brown out there.
You have your DeAngelo Hall, but you also have Nnamdi Asomugha out there.

And some tough choices will have to be made for sure. I have to say, the cut the older guys and go with the top free agents looks really nice on paper, but it's tough to say for sure which players are critical for our success in the future, and who we would just be overpaying. Which is why GMs get paid what they do.

For the first time in memory, we wont be able to have our cake and eat it too. We have to choose our own veterans vs. the far risker, but potentially more rewarding FA route.

__________________ according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

I think that's certainly possible, but for that to happen we're either saying peace out DeAngelo Hall, or we're saying bye bye to Taylor and/or Springs.

Or a CBA gets struck and we get everything we want!

Before all the enlightenment on salary cap status I voted yes to bringing Taylor back on a restructured deal ($4 mill/year or something). Less enthused about him now. I think it's safe to say JT is not the answer @ strong side end. Either Daniels returns to swap w/ Evans (who we ought to bring back) or Daniels is gone and we go get someone else. (Just curious what Peppers is likely to command for salary?) Anyway, Taylor seems like something of a luxury looking ahead being that AC is here to stay and probably as effective as Taylor in our defense at other end position.

That was the hard part of laying out this scenario, ultimately I don't know who the Skins will decide to part with. It could be Washington, it could be Taylor, it could be Springs, it could be all three.

So it's hard to tell, I'm just going on my best guess.

But if anything, this shows how tight things will be for the 'Skins if we don't get a new CBA. They'll be limited in free agency, and forced to make some tough roster decisions.

Schneed - I think it will be all 3 - why not clear as much space as we can now and make a run at bolstering the lines with young guys? Maybe 1 on the offensive line and one on the defensive line and than draft a couple of lineman and a linebacker. The more you look at the situation the more it seems likely the Skins should cut all 3 as the injuries and age are big time negatives as no other team in the leagus would pay them this type of money. I also say no to restructures on these 3 - lets stop mortgaging the future cap space and get some youth injected into the team.

I think that's certainly possible, but for that to happen we're either saying peace out DeAngelo Hall, or we're saying bye bye to Taylor and/or Springs.

Or a CBA gets struck and we get everything we want!

It makes the most sense to junk Taylor and his $8M. Injuries aside Springs is still pretty valuable at corner and is versatile enough to play safety.

I don't get the boner that some have over Hall, I'd rather keep Springs and Rogers and look at a free agent like Asomugha if the Raiders can't keep him. He won't come cheap but I think he would be worth it.

Schneed - I think it will be all 3 - why not clear as much space as we can now and make a run at bolstering the lines with young guys? Maybe 1 on the offensive line and one on the defensive line and than draft a couple of lineman and a linebacker. The more you look at the situation the more it seems likely the Skins should cut all 3 as the injuries and age are big time negatives as no other team in the leagus would pay them this type of money. I also say no to restructures on these 3 - lets stop mortgaging the future cap space and get some youth injected into the team.

I get the logic, and if I were running the show I'd probably go this route or something very similar to it.

But Vinny's running it, and based on what I've heard and seen, he likes JT for more than a year, and the team still loves Springs.

Maybe Vinny will surprise us and do the right thing by cutting Taylor.

Schneed, have you factored in signing in our current free agents? I mean my guess is Suisham is gone, Evans is likely to stay but I could see them letting him go, K. Campbell probably won't command much in the open market so he will probably stay, Kendall I'm just not sure about, Golston, Montgomery, and Doughty are all restricted free agents. Doughty is probably gone especially if they move Springs to Safety, I know they're not going to work hard to keep Golston, which leaves Montgomery

__________________You're So Vain...You Probably Think This Sig Is About You

Schneed, have you factored in signing in our current free agents? I mean my guess is Suisham is gone, Evans is likely to stay but I could see them letting him go, K. Campbell probably won't command much in the open market so he will probably stay, Kendall I'm just not sure about, Golston, Montgomery, and Doughty are all restricted free agents. Doughty is probably gone especially if they move Springs to Safety, I know they're not going to work hard to keep Golston, which leaves Montgomery

Yes. Once they clear cap space, I have them signing the following guys:

Put a different way, I think they'll have $10 million in cap room to sign various players. One will need to be a kicker, one will need to be a long snapper, one will need to be a guard if they let Kendall go, they'll need D Linemen if they decide to let Monty, Golston and Evans walk. The one extravagant signing I have in here is Hall. If they decide to let him go they can use that money for somebody else.

CBA no CBA. I guess I'm confused even after all the banter about it. I thought if the CBA was going by the way side then we would have only one year, 2010 to worry about. Then in 2011 all teams could spend as much money as they liked due to no CBA anymore. It was my understanding that if we could make it past the 2010 year we would be good.